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There’s something different about this year’s re-branded, refreshed Nexus line from Google.

Apart from the obvious name change, there’s a genuine effort from Google to make this a mainstream iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 challenger. The marketing budget has ballooned and the device itself has undergone some ‘premium’ cosmetic surgery.

But it’s not just marketing. It’s truly a new device. Gone are the massive flaws and unusual design decisions (almost). In their stead? A genuine all-rounder of a smartphone. When was the last time anyone said that about a Nexus....sorry, Pixel?

The Google Pixel XL. Image credit: Jay McGregor

This is how we’re supposed to interact with smartphones

Having spent the last few weeks bellowing out commands to Amazon’s Alexa, I can honestly say that Google Assistant is the more impressive of the two. We’ll have to see when Google Home comes out, but since it’s based on the same underlying technology and Knowledge Graph, then I assume the results will be similar.

A few things here work quite well, in particular the addition of Google Assistant in messaging app Allo. Google has done a good job of turning quizzing the Assistant into a conversation between user and bot. The results are good too. For example, asking ‘what are the best Indian restaurants in East London’ brings up the top rated on Google in card form. The best bit is that you can ask follow up questions, or tap one of the suggested follow ups, like ‘directions’, ‘show me the menu’ or ‘what time is it open until’ once you’ve selected somewhere.

Of course this information is readily available through a standard Google search, but if you’re out and about and you don’t want to spend minutes trawling through Tripadvisor or Time Out, and then subsequently rifling through the website for additional information. This is how we should be interacting with smartphones. Concise, contextual information that’s presented in an easily digestible and conversational format.

Google Assistant. Image credit: Jay McGregor

I’ve spent a lot of time using Assistant and I’m impressed with it overall. Direction-based questions, questions about local businesses and other events all produce accurate, useful results. Alongside operating music, integration with Chromecast and dictating text messages.

Where it falls down is controlling the settings on your phone. It’d be nice if you could ask Assistant to download an app, change the brightness or ask it how many pictures are on your phone.

Elsewhere there are the obvious easter eggs that elicit ‘funny’ responses from Assistant. I spent a grand total of 30 seconds asking Assistant what the meaning of life is before I realised how little I care about these marketing gimmicks, so I’ll leave it at that.

Google Now on Tap makes a reappearance too, which lets users press the home button and bring up additional information about what’s on-screen. For example directions to a pub that’s mentioned in a text message. What this does is further embed AI into the Pixel experience. You pretty much can’t escape Assistant, and that’s a good thing.

But…

You have to hand ALL OF YOUR DATA over for Assistant to work. The setup process is slightly terrifying because you’re repeatedly asked to give permission to, well, everything. The screenshot below basically covers everything you’ll ever do with your phone. Actively giving Google permission to monitor every activity - with or without assurances from Google about how that data is used - makes me feel uneasy.

Abstract quality

The matt, smooth-to-touch all-metal body feels particularly nice. It doesn’t have that stark, unforgiving cold metal texture that the last Nexus had. It’s a good mixture of premium and comfortable.

Around the back, however, is perhaps the strangest external feature: a glass panel that sits on the top half of the phone. It looks odd and doesn’t appear to have a purpose. It’s a sort of abstract design statement that that’s about as useful and nonsensical as an abstract design statement. It’s the smartphone version of a spoiler retrofitted to a hatchback.

With that said, the overall form factor benefits from a 5.5-inch frame: the perfect phablet size in my opinion. The Nexus 6 was oversized and the 6P - at 5.7-inches - was still too large. I think after a few years of experimentation we can safely say that anything above 5.5-inches is just ungainly and unnecessary for a smartphone.

What's confusing me is why Google went with such large top and bottom bezels. There’s no physical home button so why elongate them? Also I suspect that the Pixel XL’s topcoat won’t stand the test of time. In under a week of use, even with my neurotically careful nature, I’ve noticed some small scratches on the seam between the chassis and the display panel.

The Pixel XL appears to wear easily. Image credit: Jay McGregor

Elsewhere, smaller design features show acute attention to detail. The rough surface on the power buttons for better grip is a nice touch, as is the lack of a camera bump. All of which translates into an overall impression of quality.